Equality of opportunity

Developing a proactive policy for equal opportunities

Covéa’s diversity policy is based on equal opportunities and equal treatment in access to jobs, career paths and day-to-day workplace activities. It aims to maintain or restore equality between individuals regardless of their geographical, socio-cultural or religious origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, etc.

« Every day, each employee contributes his or her aptitudes and energy as well as their individuality as a woman or man. Covéa seeks to make this diversity a source of performance, imagination and innovation. Our Group adopts an inclusive approach that takes into account all the differences within its teams. This working environment enables employees to express their point of view, contribute in their own way and be appreciated in their uniqueness. » Didier Ledeur, Purchasing and CSR Director

For Covéa, promoting diversity is a win-win choice. It is about reconciling human and economic issues to boost our company’s performance. We believe that diversity is a source of wealth, greater innovation and well-being in the workplace, and as such influences our performance.

In 2016, we created a Group structure dedicated to promoting diversity that works on the major themes of diversity, equal opportunities and the prevention of discrimination. Taking a proactive approach that goes beyond our legal requirements, in 2017 we signed the Diversity Charter, symbolic of an active and determined commitment to promoting diversity and the prevention of discrimination that fosters the unbiased recognition of talents of all kinds.

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Our commitments

Making equal opportunities real

The Covéa Group places skills at the heart of its human resources policy both in terms of access to jobs and on a career-long basis (promotion, training, remuneration, work-life balance, etc.). Our commitment is to make equal opportunities real by basing human resources management on objective criteria.

Our corporate responsibility is to ensure for all prospective and existing employees that we manage recruitment and career paths based on non-discriminatory mechanisms and processes that uphold diversity as a basis for sustainable performance.

For Covéa, the promotion of diversity is a focus of particular attention when it comes to recruitment. By signing the Pact for the equal treatment of job applicants, regardless of origin, Covéa has shown its commitment to combating discrimination within the framework of its recruitment process.

Raising awareness and speaking out against prejudice

The Covéa group organises numerous awareness-raising and communication initiatives to combat prejudices and change mindsets. In March 2019, for example, it will roll out a new e-learning course, “Making a difference through diversity”. The Group has also posted content from a conference on language and learning disorders on its internal website, and organised screenings of “Le travail a-t-il un sexe” (“Is work gender-specific?”), a film by Martin Meissonnier, at several of its sites.

Gender equality in the workplace

In May 2018, Covéa signed the first Group agreement on gender equality in the workplace. This agreement embodies the priorities that Covéa has already actively adopted :

fostering interaction between professional activity and personal life to contribute to the quality of life at work for all.

Changing the company perspective on parenthood

By adhering to the Parenthood Charter in June 2017, Covéa committed to taking high-profile, practical steps to promote parenthood as a vehicle for professional equality between women and men.

Our aim is to create a work environment that allows us to balance and reconcile work life and family life to ensure that all our employees achieve personal and professional fulfilment. It is our intention to promote parenthood-related claims within the Group and to enforce the principle of non-discrimination in the professional development of parent employees.

Promoting women’s careers

Created in May 2017, Cov&elles, Covéa’s first women’s network, aims to inform and encourage changes in behaviour regarding the multiplicity of female profiles and pathways.

It encourages Covéa’s female employees to take control of their careers because, while currently they form the majority of the Group’s workforce, they account for only one-third of its senior managers. The network now comprises more than 375 women from across France in middle, senior and top management, all of whom have signed up voluntarily.

Cov&elles acts as a forum for all Covéa’s female employees, enabling them to exchange and share their experiences in such a way as to provide mutual encouragement and promote their strengths with a view to developing the confidence to move into management roles.

Cov&elles : driving performance through action and innovation

“We need to be visible, so we show our contact and career details, which can prompt some employees to get in touch to discuss their own choices or situation. We make a commitment to being contactable and able to help the people who come through the network – as well as to offering testimony and a forum for discussion.” *

Key figures at 31 December 2018

0

%

of total workforce are women

0

%

of managers are women

0

%

of senior managers are women

Our partnerships

The Talent in Our Neighbourhoods

Covéa has partnered the association NQT (Nos Quartiers ont des Talents – « The Talent in Our Neighbourhoods ») since February 2015. The Group works alongside NQT to promote equal opportunities by providing pathways into work for young graduates from disadvantaged neighbourhoods or backgrounds. Some 70 Covéa mentors, women and men alike, use this partnership to put their professional experience and network to work to help find jobs for their mentorees.

In 2018, 36 young people were supported by a Covéa employee and 24 of them secured a position following their sponsorship.

Action Against Exclusion Foundation

MMA has been involved for a number of years in the Fondation Agir Contre l’Exclusion(FACE – « Action Against Exclusion Foundation »), a national network of companies that are committed to carrying out local initiatives to combat exclusion in all its forms.

In October 2017, under the impetus of FACE, Covéa and MMA signed the Companies and Neighbourhoods Charter (Charte Entreprises et Quartiers) with the Sarthe prefecture and 15 other companies from the Le Mans metropolitan area. This charter enables Covéa and its MMA brand to take active steps to help the districts of Le Mans that are prioritised under its municipal policies. Over the course of last year, Covéa undertook to carry out concrete initiatives to assist with educational and professional orientation, jobs and pathways into work and training, and to provide support for local programmes as well as socially beneficial corporate patronage.